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An action filled day!

The day was all normal till Thane. I reached Thane at 0837. I decided to wait till the Udyan/Pushpak rushed through. At around 0845, an EMU proceeding towards Mumbai CST decided to cross over from the Slow line towards the Fast line. In process the Udyan Express got held up at Thane outer signal. Even minutes after the EMU cleared, there was no sign of Udyan moving. Some minutes later, I felt that the rake was moving, and I kept my camera ready. It was a WDM3A after a very long time now. The loco was WDM3A #17970 of Krishnarajapuram. The loco seemed to slowly crawl....

...and there was no sign of the loco notching up. I could sense that the loco was idling. The station khalasi shouted at the pilot for driving slowly, but there was no response! The train slowly screeched to a halt! So what was wrong? The signal was green! I decided to check it out! The loco failed...When I approached the loco, they were trying to revive the dying loco! The pilots were running helter-skelter to revive the loco but to no result! The Guard came running to check what was wrong. A few off-duty pilots who were around also came to the loco and tried all they knew to revive the loco. I could sense the tension that the pilots were experiencing! They were stuck up on the main line, and traffic was piling up behind! At around 0910, the starter turned red (After staying green for about 25 minutes). The Lucknow bound Pushpak express (which closely trails the Udyan Express) was now re-routed to Platform 7. She came in...

...with WDP4 #20034. The train paused near the starter (of Platform 7) for a minute, and then moved ahead with a long horn. They switched off the loco of Udyan, and then restarted her. Then they notched up the loco...but she did not move even an inch! Matters were getting worse as the line behind was already blocked. There would be EMUs, the Kolhapur bound Koyna Express and may be more trains behind! The Guard talked to the controls, and a substitute loco was asked for. He said that the loco has to come down from Kalyan! unfortunately, due to all this drama, the UP Main line was also getting blocked frequently!Finally at around 0930, the Mumbai CST bound Sinhagad Express decided to rush through...

...with WCAM3 #21946 of Kalyan. On seeing the train, I was reminded that I had an examination today! Rushhhhhh to the college now! I was around the station till 0950, and the train was still there! [On checking Trainenquiry.com, I found that Udyan reached Kalyan at 1050, about 2 hours late. By a small back calculation - The train should have left thane at around 1030 or so - close to 2 hours after the loco went kaput!]The paper was confusing, and to add to my woes it was horribly humid today! I was sweating out the entire duration of the paper! I made it back to the station at 1325. I took the 1334 CSTM Fast. I spotted a Light WCAM3 waiting to rush out from the Electric Loco trip shed at LTT. WDM3A #14080 of Erode, WDM2 #17339 of Ernakulam, and WDM3A #18754R of Pune were stabled at Kurla DLS.I reached Kurla at 1400. Some time later, the WCAM3 that I saw at LTT rushed towards Dadar. The loco...

...was WCAM3 #21887. She was rushing towards Dadar to pick up the Nagpur bound Sewagram express. [This is a regular loco movement. She rushes towards Dadar regularly at around this time - approximately around 1405~1410]. After some more minutes, the Pune loco...

WDM3A #18754R ran across Kurla yard (near Platform 8) tugging a live WDS4 towards Dadar. This loco (Pune WDM3A) would take the KR3 towards Ratnagiri. [This loco movement is also regular!]. Finally, I took an EMU at 1416, and reached home by 1500.Bye for the day...hoping to see the Udyan/Pushpak Dippy combo tomorrow also!

Comments

Today, I went out of my way for the first time to DR PF8 because while coming from Matunga to Dadar I had seen a 'blue diesel' standing at pf8. This happens to be the same Pune WDM3A that you have mentioned and photographed.

I have photographed the same beast up close at DR but today somehow my Bluetooth device and USB cable have both gone on a non-co operation movement together. Once they return to normal, I will upload my pic of same Pune WDM3A, taken on same day!!

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